Traction-engine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. W. GATES.

TRACTION ENGINE. .No. 596,063. Patented De0.28,1897.

UNITED STATES I ATENT FFICE.

PHILETUS W. GATES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 596,063, dated December 28, 1897. v

Application filed April 26 1897.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PHILETUS W. GATES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Traction-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to traction machines or engines adapted for traveling over snow or ice roads and involving a hollow or chambered traction wheel which is interiorly heated for the purpose of forming and maintaining such roads. I

Prominent objects of my invention are to arrange for the thorough, economical, and effective heating of the hollow or chambered traction-wheel to increase the tractive power of such wheel without adding either to its size, its real weight, or its cost of production, and to arrange for the economic utilization of the spent heated gases of such engines as are usually employed in propelling traction-machines for the purpose of heating the traction wheel or wheels thereof.

To the attainment of the foregoing and other useful ends I propose to maintain the chamber or interior of the chambered or hollow traction-wheel normally full or substantially full of water or other liquid and to heat such water or liquid by a heater arranged within such chamber or interior of the tractionwheel. By such arrangement the tractive power of the wheel is increased by the additional weight of the water which it carries,

while at the same time the wheel can be effectively and economically heated for the purpose of forming and maintaining the snow or ice roads by the heating of the Water or other liquid contained Within its chamber or interior by means of the heater arranged within such chamber or interior. The heater which is thus arranged within the chamber or interior of the traction-wheel could be of any suitable type; but as a preferred arrangement and matter of further improvement such heater comprises a suitable series of heating-pipes adapted to permit the circulation in them of heated fluids-such, for instance, as steam or otherheated gases or hot water, if desired; and as a matter of still further improvement these heating-pipes are desirably connected so as to receive the heated Serial No. 633,883. (1% model.)

gases escaping from the engines which are usually employed for propelling the machine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a traction-engine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line a: 00 in Fig.1 on a larger scale; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the traction wheel, taken on line y y in Fig. 2.

The machine illustrated is constructed with an engine-truck A and a tilting propelling attachment B, which serves as a connection between the engine-truck A and a hollow traction propelling wheel 0. For certain purposes the engine-truck A could be mount- .ed upon wheels, but as a special and preferred arrangement it is supported upon runners D. It is shown as carrying a steamboiler E and a steam-engine F, suitably connected therewith, by means of which latter the traction propelling-wheel O can be driven.

The tilting traction propelling attachment B has a pivotal connection with the enginetruck A, so as to permit the traction-wheel O to rise and fall, as required by irregularities in the road, independent of the engine-truck A. Said propelling attachment is conveni ently constructed of a couple of side beams 1, which are arranged upon opposite sides of the traction-Wheel and are provided with suitable bearings or journals 2 for said wheel.

The traction-Wheel 0 could be of any suitable construction adapted to provide a liquid-containing chamber; but as a preferred arrangement it is constructed in the form of a simple metallic cylinder or drum having a liquid-tight interior 3, formed by the cylindric periphery 4 and the side walls 5.

Any suitable arrangement could be employed for introducing into the interior 3 of the traction-wheel the quantity of liquid which it is desired to normally maintain therein, and also for withdrawing such liquid when it is desired to do so for any reason.

As a simple arrangement I have shown a couple of removable plugs 6, fitted'in opposite peripheral portions of the side Walls 5 of the traction-wheel, of which plugs one can IOO moved for emptying the liquid from the wheel, the one to allow the outflow of the liqmid and the other to permit the entrance of air.

The cylindric periphery 4 of the tractionwheel 0 is desirably provided with suitablyattached teeth 7, while its side walls 5 are constructed with hub portions 8, adapted to fit within the bearings or journals 2 of the beams 1, which form the propelling attachment B.

lVhile the style of heater employed for heating the liquid in the interior of the traction-wheel is a matter of choice, I have shown a very simple, efficient, and convenient arrangement, which comprises a series of substantially U-shaped heating-pipes 9, having their parallel portions arranged radially within the interior of the wheel and having their inner ends attached to a couple of centrallyarranged distributing-drums 10. Said dis tributing-drums 10 are respectively connected to inlet and outlet pipes 11 and 12, respectively, extending through suitable bores .formed longitudinally in the hubs 8 of the traction-wheel, and also through packingglands 25, fitted in the outer sides of the journals or bearings 2, in which the hubs 8 work, as best shown in Fig. 2. The heater thus constructed could be connected with any suitable means for supplying to it a heated fluid-such, forinstance, as heated aiiysteam, or other gases, or heated water; but as a preferred arrangement and a matter of specific improvement its inlet-pipe 11 is connected with the engine F as by a flexible connector 13, so that the exhaust from the engine passes into and circulates within the heating-pipes and so serves to heat the liquid contained in the interior of the traction-wheel.

The exhaust-steam from the engine, after circulating through the heating-pipes in the traction-wheel, could be discharged into the open air or disposed of in any other way through the outlet-pipe 12; but it is preferably conducted to a condensing tank or reservoir G by means of a flexible connector 14, attached to the heater outlet-pipe 12 and to a suitable pipe 15, with which the tank G is provided.

The water of condensation accumulating in the tank or reservoir G can be withdrawn therefrom and fed to the boiler E as desired by means of a pump H, which is connected therewith by a pipe 1'7 and a flexible tube 18, attached to a pipe 19, which enters the top of the tank and extends therein substantially to its bottom. The said tank or reservoir G is conveniently mounted upon the tilting propelling attachment above the traction-wheel C, so as to increase the tractive power of the latter.

The traction-wheel C can be driven from the driving-shaft 20 of the engine F by means of an intermediate rotary shaft 21, gear connected therewith, and a sprocket-chain 22, passing over sprocket-wheels 23 and 24,wl1ereof the former is mounted upon said shaft 21 and the latter is secured to one of the side walls 5 of the traction-wheel C. The said rotary shaft 21 is arranged across the rear end of the en gine-tru ck A and is conveniently eX- tended through and suitably mounted in the forward ends of the beams 1, which form the tilting propelling attachment B, and thereby serves as a pivotal connection between said engine-truck and propelling attachment.

It will be understood that either the construction of traction-engine body-frame or the construction, arrangement, and mounting of the traction-wheel can be consider-- ably varied without departing from the spirit of my invention, and that I do not therefore wish to limit m yselt to the particular arrangements herein shown. It will also be understood that should any form of engine other than that shown be employed for propelling the machine-as, for instance, an engine operated by gas or by compressed air it could be connected so as to discharge its exhaust into the traction-wheel heating-pipes in substantially the manner shown, or should there be employed an engine having a steamjacket surrounding its cylinder the spent steam from such jacket could be conducted into the traction-wheel heating-pipes, it being observed that in both of such arrangements, as in the arrangement herein shown, an engine utilizing heated gases in its operation would be employed and it would be connected so as to discharge such heated gases into the heater of the traction-wheel.

WVhat I claim is-- 1. In a traction-engine, a traction-wheel constructed with a liquid-containing chamber, and provided with a heater arranged within said chamber and adapted to heat the liquid contained therein, as set forth. I

2. In a traction-engine, the combination of a hollow liquid-containing traction-wheel provided interiorly with suitable heating-pipes; and means for circulating a heated fluid through said heating-pipes, as set forth.

3. In a traction-engine, the combination of a hollow liquid-containin g traction-wheel provided interiorly with suitable heating-pipes; and an engine utilizing heated gases in its operation and arranged to discharge such heated gases into said heating-pipes, as set forth.

4. In a traction-engine, the combination of a hollow liquid-containin g traction-wheel provided interiorly with suitable heating-pipes; a steam-operated exhausting-en gine arranged to discharge its exhaust into said heatingpipes; and a condensing-tank connected so as to receive the exhaust-steam after it has circulated through the heating-pipes, as set forth.

PIIILETUS \V. GATES.

VV-itnesses:

A. F. DURAND, M. M. WAGNER. 

